schmiddy

n. a beer glass with a capacity smaller than a pint and larger than a half-pint. Subjects: English, Australia, Food & Drink

Etymological Note: schooner ‘a tall beer glass’ + middy ‘a half-pint beer glass.’

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Citations: 1998 Steve Warnock Sun-Herald (Australia) (Jan. 25) “How Libby Sank The Schooner” p. 19: The schooner glass, favoured by many hotel beer drinkers, is under threat from a slimmer, American version called the Libby Gibraltar, or the “schmiddy.”…The glass size is between the traditional 285ml middy and the fat schooner, the old glass with curves or tapered sides. Hotel owners say the schmiddy handles easier, is “female friendly” and “less likely to break than a schooner glass in a bar fight.” Bar managers who sell the “schmiddy” said if a drinker asks “schooner please mate” they are told politely that the standard glass is smaller than the schooner. 2000 Scott Plimpton @ Redfern Sun-Herald (Australia) (May 21) “Letters” p. 98: I have recently noticed in a number of inner-city watering holes that the traditional “Sydney schooner” (425ml) is being replaced by what some hotels insist on calling a “schmiddy” (340ml), at approximately the same price. *2006 Ban the Schmiddy (Australia) (June 6) “Fighting Back!”: The schmiddy must be opposed.…Do NOT patronise the Quisling establishments that offer schmiddies. 2007 Paul Syvret Courier-Mail (Bowen Hills, Queensland, Australia) (Apr. 3) “Amber without ambience”: Half the pubs in Brisbane these days don’t seem to sell them, instead forcing the hapless toper into a choice between a whopping great pint or something resembling a small glass thimble with a handle on it. Either that or they serve beer in what is called schmiddies (halfway between a schooner and a middie, or pot)—and charge you about $4 for the privilege.

Posted 3 Apr 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

I currently work in a hotel bar in Brisbane, and it’s the first hotel I have worked at that sells Schmiddies. The feedback I have received most from patrons is that they feel they’re getting ripped off. While I think its an ideal serving size, for anyone, while not letting the beer get too warm before finishing, the glass shape is unpopular, and impractical for commercial handling and use.

by Daina 24 Jan 09, 0526 GMT